Middles Matariki

The middles have been learning about celebrations and learnt about Matariki. Have a look below and click on their links to see all the fantastic work they have been doing.

 A1 

A1 Matariki

One of the things we did in A1 to celebrate Matariki was learn about some Maori artwork. Below are some children painting some Koru and other Maori patterns. Each one means something different e.g. the Koru a young fern that is about to unfold – it represents new life and the Mangopare is like the hammerhead shark and symbolises strength, courage and power.

A2 

A2 Matariki

 The assembly will also showcase a presentation on our Maori Cloak (Kahu Korowai) made from paper feathers.  The feathers feature all aspects of Matariki and maori culture including storytales, symbols, events and treasures special to Aotearoa.   A lot of effort was made by A2 to make this cloak. A2 should take great pride in their artwork.  Please check out our Maori Cloak.

A10

A10 Matariki

MATARIKI CELEBRATION DAY

Today A10 had a Matariki Celebration Day. The children had planned the day during our Inquiry time. We focused on four different areas - clothing, food, decorations and performance.

CLOTHING: In class we wove headbands for our costume and today the children came to school dressed in colours that represented Matariki. We attempted to create our own pendant made from driftwood and paua shell. I hope they last!

DECORATIONS: Early in the day we made red, white and black decorations and spotted the 7 Matariki glow in the dark stars hidden in the classroom.

FOOD: Kumara and star shaped sprinkle sandwiches were on the menu. The children helped prepare the kumara by peeling them and we roasted them as chips. They each made their own sandwich with star cutters. We all enjoyed sharing our kai at lunchtime.

PERFORMANCE: We learnt Twinkle, Twinkle in Maori and enjoyed sharing this with the Middles assembly on Thursday, along with a rakau stick performance. Today some of the boys finished our celebration day off with a rousing haka.

D2 

D2 Matariki

The Matariki Celebration Success...

What a wonderful way to end our Term 2 Inquiry....a celebration of food, art, drama, music and Maori culture. Every child contributed to the preparation of the food, the setting of the tables and the performances. There were so many highlights, and it was lovely to share it with parents and grandparents. Thank you everyone for your help and support!

Busily peeling and chopping the vegetables for soup

Anna with a table of willing helpers

Scraps for the compost

Our beautiful table settings

Kneading the dough for bread

Our woven placemats

Extra yummy food

The rising dough...

Lighting the candles

The girls sing to the parents

And finally...the serving of the soup and bread!! Yum, yum.

E1

E1 Matariki

Weaving 

WALT: Identify how people celebrate Matariki in Aotearoa. 

We found out that people learn new skills when they celebrate Matariki. We decided to learn a new skill...Weaving! We found a weaving book in the school library and found out about weaving for beginners! 

We gave it a go....some found it easy because they had done it before, others found it rather tricky. It was lots of fun and we had a great time with E2. Our weaving has been laminated and we are going to use them as placemats for our Matariki Celebration day!

Kite Making

WALT: Identify how people celebrate Matariki in Aotearoa. 

We also found out that some people make kites to celebrate Matariki. We made our own kites today! 

This is how we made our kites- 

STEP 1- Fold a piece of card into half. 

STEP 2- Make another fold by folding the top layer back until you got a diamond shape (this part was the trickest!)

STEP 3- Cellotape a stick across the top part of the diamond. 

STEP 4- Make a tail out of crepe paper and cellotape on. 

STEP 5- Attach a looooong piece of string for flying!

Listening to Stories about the Past

Matariki is a time for listening to stories about the past. We decided to read a really famous myth and legend called 'Maui and the Sun.' Some of us had heard this legend before and others learnt about it for the first time. Have a listen to the story below....

We used this legend as motivation for some artwork using pastel and dye! Don't our suns look awesome....

Poi Making

Matariki is a time for making things and we decided to have a go at making Poi! It was a tricky thing to make but we all showed great resilience and patience as Miss Harris helped us! We are all very proud of the final product. We then learnt a poi song and dance called 'E Rere Taku Poi.' We are getting really good at it and we can't wait to share it at our Matariki Celebration day. 

E2

E2 Matariki

Matariki:  Some photos from our Trips to Te Papa and the Dowse:

On the bus heading for Te Papa.

Having lunch at Te Papa

E3

E3 Matariki

When we were at Te Papa on Tuesday our amazing guide told us all about the stars in New Zealand's night sky.

If you want to be a star expert you could ask your big people nicely to download this star gazing app.

Don't forget to tell us all about in when you come to school!!!

http://www.google.com/mobile/skymap/

E4

E4 Matariki

Kapa Haka 2014

Tena kouto and kia ora
Nau mai
Haere mai
Whakatau mai

We would like to say welcome to all our new members to kapa haka this year and good to see you again to those who are returning to us. It is going to be a very busy and fun filled year for our Eastern Hutt kapa haka group. They have got off to a fantastic start and have learnt one song already! Come and take a peek at this Tuesdays practice.

Awakairangi E

A7, A8 and A9 singing beautifully a powerful song, Awakairangi E to celebrate Te Wiki O Te Reo Maori, which was in July and focused on pronouncing place names properly.

Awakairangi E is about the Hutt Valley. Us teachers were so impressed with how you learnt the song so quickly and how you sang it so nicely.

Ka mau te wehi!!

:-)

More Maori Language Week Fun!

Here are some more links to what we have been learning for Maori Language Week at EHS!  Click on the name of the class to read their blog post.

E7 (Year 1) learned how to say the days of the week, the colours and how they are feeling in Te Reo Maori

D1 (Year 1) have been learning some Te Reo Kori using the Rakau sticks

B3 (Year 2) read the book Tangaroa's Gift and did some great art and writing about the story.

B4 (Year 2) learned about Taniwha and then drew their own Taniwha and wrote about them.

B5 (Year 2) have been learning to say their mihi and also learning greetings in Te Reo Maori

A2 (Year 4) had lots of fun playing "I Spy" in Te Reo Maori

Maori Language Week

We have been learning lots at our school during Te Wiki O Te Reo Maori (Maori Language Week).  Here are some links to what some classes have been doing.  Click on the name of the class or the picture to go to their blog post.  Check back later in the week for more updates.

C1 (Year 1) have also been learning their mihi in Te Reo

C2 (Year 1) have been using the ipads to help them to learn some new Te Reo kupu (words)

C3 (Year 1) have learnt a song in Te Reo on the ipads

B1 (Year 2) have been learning some actions and commands in Te Reo Maori and also learning about Maori placenames

B2 (Year 2) have been learning their mihi in Te Reo Maori

E4 (Year 3) have been learning about Maori place names

Maui and the sun

As part of Te reo week many classes are looking at Māori myths and ledgens. Here is a story on how Maui slowed the sun.